The Toronto Raptors sophomore wing Terrence Ross wants more minutes. As a rookie last year, Ross played in 73 games for Toronto and averaged 17 minutes per game. It would be a positive sign for the Raptors if Ross could earn more time on the court this season.

Ross talked to Pro Bball Report on Monday about the upcoming season after dropping off a ticket package and gift to a lucky Raptors season seat holder.

“(My goals are to) just get more playing time and help the team win whatever way I can and be a big asset to the team,” Ross said.

The last time most of us saw Ross in action was at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas where the young wing had a mostly forgettable few games as virtually the whole world was enamored by his Summer League MVP teammate Jonas Valanciunas. However, Ross was no longer concerned about what had happened in July.

“I think it was just the type of game (in summer league),” Ross said. “I have been working on my threes. I am not concerned about it.”

Ross hasn’t stopped working this summer and he has acknowledged the need to improve if he wants to accomplish his goal of becoming a big asset to the team.

“(I am working on) getting to the basket, ball handling and getting stronger. Those are the three primary things,” Ross said. “Guys are better, stronger, faster, so you just have to find a way around it. Learn new techniques and put it to use.”

As the player most often mentioned by the organization as having a lot of potential, Ross could become an important piece of the puzzle in his team’s drive for a playoff spot this season. However, it isn’t going to be easy to earn additional court time.

Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan are expected to play big minutes and the Raptors have added talent that will be competing for what’s left.

Newcomer Dwight Buycks is another young player that would like to find some extra minutes at shooting guard and Afrobasket MVP Carlos Morais is a prolific three-point shooting wing who is fighting for a spot on the roster.

At small forward, veteran Steve Novak is arguably the best three-point shooting forward in the NBA and Austin Daye is another young forward with three-point range fighting for minutes in the rotation. Also, Landry Fields can play either wing spot and if his elbow has healed and he can hit his jump shot, it will be tough for Head Coach Dwane Casey to keep him on the bench.

It will not be easy for Ross to find more minutes than he played last season, but if he can earn a significant spot in Casey’s rotation in the face of this stiff competition, that will be good news for the Raptors.

Give him a consistent 20mpg the first month and see what he does. He needs consistency and to not be yanked and benched the minute he makes a mistake.

Exactly. He needs to stay on the court even if he struggles. Having said that, I doubt it will happen in the first month or two as we are trying to make a playoff push and there is no leeway in this kind of environment.

He needs to earn them, but he also should never be getting 2 or 3 min like last season

I say you give him a chance with consistent minutes early in the season and allow him to hopefully get some confidence. And if Demar still has trouble shooting the 3, hopefully Ross can show something and make Derozan somewhat expendable if MU looks to make moves later in the season.

If MU is even considering moving DD (which i'm sure he's at least thought about it) we need to see if Ross has what it takes to stick. Won't know unless you play him.

Defend and play well. Taking stupid shots in bulk and not defending are not mistakes that he needs to be able to play through. Ultimately he needs to be ready for this league, and a lot of that has to do with just getting stronger. Hopefully that is something we can see.

Why does this guy get ripped on? He was a rookie last year, and the guy in front of him took just as much time off defensively, likely more given his free minutes, and Ross should be given the benefit of the doubt that his first real preseason will pay dividends. For all of the excuses players in the past have been given about not having a real preseason or that they're hard workers, this kid should get his chance to prove he was worth the pick. Ripping on him for defensive lapses and poor shot selection constantly while allowing others ahead of him to float and chuck is a real issue.

It sounds like he wants to get stronger, be able to improve his handles and has corrected his long range shooting... so let's hope his actual athleticism translates defensively too. We need Ross to become something for this team to do anything, now or in the next few years.

Why does this guy get ripped on? He was a rookie last year, and the guy in front of him took just as much time off defensively, likely more given his free minutes, and Ross should be given the benefit of the doubt that his first real preseason will pay dividends. For all of the excuses players in the past have been given about not having a real preseason or that they're hard workers, this kid should get his chance to prove he was worth the pick. Ripping on him for defensive lapses and poor shot selection constantly while allowing others ahead of him to float and chuck is a real issue.

It sounds like he wants to get stronger, be able to improve his handles and has corrected his long range shooting... so let's hope his actual athleticism translates defensively too. We need Ross to become something for this team to do anything, now or in the next few years.

For him to have mins he needs to improve on shooting, getting to the basket, defending, handling better, take better shots, transition D, and get bigger. If he continues his play from last year, and in SL -in other words his play so far as a pro- he'll be nearly useless.
I have hopes that SL was a fluke and I believe he'll improve in most of the things listed.

title is misleading, implies ross thinks he didn't get the minutes he deserved last season
all he said was he wants to play more and help the team, which is the same as saying he wants to be better this season

title is misleading, implies ross thinks he didn't get the minutes he deserved last season
all he said was he wants to play more and help the team, which is the same as saying he wants to be better this season